Have you ever gone on a holiday to the tropics or maybe you’re in the midst of planning one? Well if you fit into any of the scenarios (and perhaps something in between, say perhaps you know of someone who’s been there) then it is likely that you already know or have been advised about the health requirement (certain shots/vaccines) as well as the potential health risks unique to that climate/equatorial region (such as influenza, dengue, etc).
Now what I’m going to focus on today is dengue. For those unfamiliar with the term, Dengue (pronounced den’ gee) refers specifically to the dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF is a more severe form of dengue and can prove fatal if unrecognized and not properly treated), is a disease caused by any one of four closely related viruses (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, or DEN-4). The viruses are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito (only the female aedes mosquito bites as it needs the protein present in blood to develop its eggs). Symptoms of the infection will appear 3—14 days after the bite and show up as:
- A mild fever to incapacitating high fever
- Severe headache
- Pain in the eyes (felt as though the pain is behind the eyeball)
- Muscle and joint aches/pains
- Rash (A characteristic rash will spread from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face)
- Nausea and vomiting
Save from the unique pattern of fever and signature rash, the other symptoms are often misdiagnosed.
Dengue fever and DHF are a form of febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults. Hardly a laughing matter, there is no specific treatment for the fatal dengue or vaccine to protect against it. Appropriate medical care at the right time can save the lives of patients but the only sure way to prevent the dengue virus transmission is to combat the disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Which brings us down to the environmental effects of this alarming epidemic.
You see the common misconception by tourists is that you’re only susceptible to dengue if you go jungle trekking, camping, etc (basically when you go around the tropical jungle) because that’s where they expect the mosquitoes to be. The truth is, you’re just as likely to get it in urban areas because the Aedes aegypti breeds primarily in man-made containers such as earthenware jars, metal drums,concrete cisterns used for domestic water storage, discarded plastic food containers, used automobile tyres and other items that collect rainwater (this would include plant pots and trap dish. In fact any source of stagnant water can breed these mosquitoes.
Where would you find all of these breeding materials? In landfills, illegal dumpsites, unkempt homes, yards, alleys…you get the picture. Basically breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti are the result of modernisation and our inability to appreciate it with responsibility.
In the case of Dengue, prevention is literally better than cure because frankly there just isn’t a cure. So vector control is our only chance. Vector control is implemented using both environmental management and chemical methods.
Environmental management is about preventing the breeding of the deadly mosquitoes by preserving hygiene (solid waste disposal, improved water storage practices, etc) and chemical methods is basically referring to the use of chemical insecticide.
When an outbreak occurs or when someone found to be infected, emergency vector control measures will almost always include broad application of space sprays, a process known as fogging. But this method has been a controversial one from the start because its chemical contents have been argued to cause more harm than the intended good.
Firstly, the aerosol droplets do not prove 100% effective as they don’t penetrate indoors and the mosquitoes seem to be developing immunity towards it. Secondly, it’s chemical and it is aerosol, so it kills indiscriminately and results in negative health reactions in humans (pesticides are almost always neurotoxins). Some of these effects are immediate and obvious such as rash and headaches while others (the deadlier ones) takes time to be noticed. These would include depression, breast cancer, thyroid damage, liver diseases, kidney failures and damage to the immune, endocrine as well as the nervous systems.
Ultimately, sustainable living is about preventing dengue and not ‘dealing’ with it. Preservation of cleanliness and the environment is our only sure way of surviving the epidemic.
